Change of Image
by buzzmarfach
Summary: The Doctor and Rose travel across time and space in a ... toilet! Adventure ensues, naturally.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except for an ickle rubber mouse called Mortimer… And he's mine! MINE! I tell you! Mine… But poor Mort isn't cheap to keep, so please don't sue me. Please, think of the mouse….

This I kinda my first fic. It started late one night as a drunken idea, and went from there. Possibly downhill lol. I'd like to thank Chaimera both for infecting me with plot bunnies, and being my beta. Hope you all like this, will update soon.

**Change of Image**

By Buzzmarfach

Chapter 1

"Where to now? Where do you want to go today?"

"I was waiting for you to ask me that. Why do I always have to pick? You pick. Somewhere nice and safe."

"But it's more fun this way. Adds more excitement."

The Doctor glanced up at Rose. "You are being given control of a very, very powerful, not to mention expensive, device designed to traverse the vast expanses of the space-time continuum. And you're complaining?"

"I'm not complaining," mumbled Rose, her eyes downcast. She felt slightly guilty.

"I just usually end up nearly getting us killed, or our brains sucked out, or transformed into puppies or something equally weird and dangerous... I don't know where to go, or when…. Besides, I'm not really in control. I make a suggestion, you twiddle some knobs and dials and off we go. We rarely end up where we intended anyway!"

The Doctor frowned. "Hey, navigating a TARDIS isn't as easy as it looks you know! Not just anyone can do it. I'd like to see you try!" He focused intently on the console screen.

"Teach me then."

The Doctor looked up, surprised.

" I… I want to learn," stammered Rose timidly.

The Doctor burst into a massive grin. "I knew there was a reason I brought you along. Keep that human curiosity going, and never stop learning, Rose Tyler. Once you close your mind, you may as well die. Saw that happen once, actually,"

"Really?"

"Literally. To an Atollian. His brain sealed up. He died of starvation a few days later… tragic really. Brains need stimulation," the Doctor tapped Rose's forehead, "and nutrition, apparently."

He stared into the distance, contemplating alien brain death. Suddenly, he looked intently at Rose. His eyes shone with excitement.

"Right! Let the learning begin!"

Rubbing his hands together gleefully, he stepped up to the main console. He circled it twice.

"Ah, here. Yes." He stopped in from of a dizzying array of blinking lights and buttons then looked up.

"Well come on!" he motioned for Rose to join him.

"First of all you need to know when exactly you're going to. That's what this wheel does. Roll it forwards to go forward in time, and vice versa. The farther you roll it, the farther you go. Got that? These buttons are your spatial coordinates, your location; X, Y, Z, and W."

"W? What's that?"

"Not _too_ sure," said the Doctor, scratching his head, "but set it anyway just to be on the safe side. Once you've set all of those, you need to prime the sonic oscillator, using this." He pointed.

"The bicycle-pump thing?"

"Exactly. Give it a couple of good hard thrusts and you're away. Then, pull this here lever and your journey begins."

He stepped back and folded his arms, looking very satisfied with himself.

"What's that blue flashing light there?" asked Rose, pointing.

"That would be… a flashing blue light," came the curt reply.

"God, ask a stupid question," laughed Rose.

"How do I know what I'm setting all the coordinates to? Are there dials or a screen or something?"

"You can see your target coordinates on this display here."

Rose squinted at the monitor he indicated. "Doctor, what language is that? I can't read it."

"Ah." The Doctor paused thoughtfully, "hang on a sec."

Rose took a step back ads the Doctor squatted down and reached under the console.

"It's around here somewhere," he chirped, pulling off several panels, exposing a jungle of wires. Then, lying on his back, he inserted himself, head first, into the tangled web. After some muffled muttering, the Doctor grew silent. Rose gazed around the TARDIS control room, before her eyes rested on the Doctor's torso.

'Two hearts,' she pondered to herself, 'wonder what his heart beat sounds like…'

She continued to watch him. The only signs of life were the buzz ands faint blue glow of a sonic screwdriver.

"Mmmmf uff numff," came from deep within the TARDIS circuitry.

"What?" Rose stepped closer to the prostrate Doctor.

"I can't hear you." Taking care not to tread on his legs, she crept closer. She leaned down.

"Doctor?" Suddenly, the Doctor heaved himself out, bowling Rose over in the process. With a loud "oof!" she landed squarely on top of him.

"Hello!" chirped the Doctor, "fancy seeing you here!"

Blushing, she hastily climbed up. "So anyway, what were you saying in there?"

The Doctor rose slowly to his feet, brushing imaginary dust from his trousers.

"I said to try it now."

"Oh, yeah, right." Rose looked sheepishly down at the display. Her eyes widened "It's in English!" she exclaimed.

"Don't sound so surprised. This here," he said, patting the console affectionately, "is one sophisticated piece of machinery. It can travel through time. It can easily handle the language of the apes." He smiled.

"Oi!" said Rose, giving him a playful punch on the arm.

"Just kidding," beamed the Doctor, rubbing his arm melodramatically, "I quite like English personally. Anyway, I think it's time for your driving lesson. Test flight 101."

"Now?"

The Doctor nodded.

"Okay then, here goes." She positioned herself at the console. "Let's see… time… 2005… location…let's try London… okay, I think that's it."

The Doctor watched bemusedly, arms folded, as she twiddled knobs and pushed buttons. She paused.

"Forgetting something?" quipped the Doctor.

"Erm, the sonic whatcha-ma-call-it?"

"Oscillator."

"Right." She pumped the piston once, and then went to pull the lever.

"No, no, no. Your technique is terrible," the Doctor walked over. He took Rose's right hand and placed it on the pump, wrapping his had around it.

"Pump it hard, and a good few times."

"I've heard that one before," giggled Rose. The Doctor frowned.

Shaking her head, smiling, she did as he instructed and yanked the lever down. The TARDIS came to life. The lights dimmed and the main engine pumped up and down rhythmically. The room shook slightly. Moments later, all was still again. They had materialised on a square of Georgian townhouses. Rose peered out of the door.

"I don't recognise this place. Where precisely are we?"

Returning to the screen, the Doctor informed her "a place called Merrion Square, Dublin."

"Dublin? As in Ireland?"

"I assume so. Do you know of any others?"

"But I set it to _London._"

"At least you got the time right. The controls are very sensitive."

Rose glared at him.

"Or, maybe the TARDIS got it wrong," he said hurriedly, "it happens." He gave her a quick wink and a toothy smile. Her expression softened.

"Must have been that then."

"Yeah." Rose's face flushed slightly. "Anyway, off we go. Let's have an adventure!" she stepped outside, shrieked and darted back inside the TARDIS.

"It's bloody raining! It was sunny a minute ago! You don't happen to have an umbrella, do ya?"

"Try the wardrobe. Should have a couple. Leave the blue ones though. They're for acid rain. Very useful, but very, very heavy. I doubt we need them here. So, down the hall, past a golden box with two red circles on it, then third left, seventh right, straight on past the pool, then turn right again. Got that? Call me if you get lost."

"Will do." With that, she strode off down the hall.

* * *

"…past a box with two circles on it," mumbled Rose to herself as she wandered down the long hallway.

'This place is such a maze,' she thought, 'and it always seems to be different, too.'

She came upon the golden box and stopped. She smiled.

"They look like nipples!" she giggled, before moving on.

First left went by. She didn't want to go down there. Second left, an ominously dark corridor with an odd odour wafting from it, seemed an even less attractive route.

She reached the third left, and headed deeper into the seemingly infinite TARDIS.

"Mustn't be much further," panted Rose. She was getting tired already.

"What was it the Doctor had said next? _Seventh Right?_ I need a sit down. And a nice cup of tea."

She then saw a shape in the distance, protruding from the wall. When she reached it, she saw that it was a low blue box, fastened to the wall. Due possibly to the dim light, or Rose's aching feet, or maybe both; it looked rather like a bench. Rose sat down with a thump. She ran her hands though her hair, and rubbed her ankle. The box gave a low creak. Rose froze, and listened. Nothing.

"Time to be getting on," she sighed.

Suddenly, with a tearing noise, the box broke free from its mounting on the wall. It landed on the floor with a loud metallic clang, which reverberated away down the corridor in both directions. Rose scrambled to her feet. She gaped at the damage. Torn wires trailing out of the hole in the wall sent showers of sparks along the floor.

The Doctor appeared, breathless.

"Everything okay? What ha-"

Rose pointed at the debris on the floor.

"Ah."

More sparks flew. Rose flinched.

"That _was_ the cloaking device."

"I… I'm sorry," stuttered Rose.

"It was broken already, stuck on the phone box disguise. No big deal."

"I-" began Rose, but was interrupted by a series of clicks and whirrs, followed by high-pitched screechy noises. A dust covered screen on the wall blinked into life, displaying white noise. It flickered, and some sort of schematic appeared briefly, before the fuzz returned.

"Hmmm, I wonder…" murmured the Doctor. Reaching into his jacket, he produced the sonic screwdriver. He ran its blue glow along two sides of the screen. The diagram appeared, and Rose had enough time to see that it was the outside of the TARDIS, before the screen died completely.

"Oh well, was worth a try," sighed the Doctor.

The lighting dimmed. The protruding wires exploded in a cascade of sparks, sending Rose reeling backwards, startled. Her foot caught the box on the floor and she fell into the Doctor's strong arms.

"Easy there!" he exclaimed.

Regaining her feet, Rose looked up into his concerned face. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Rose had never really studied his face before. Had his eyes always been that intense blue? They seemed to be deeper than the inside of the TARDIS…

A loud beep brought them back to reality. The schematic glowed happily on the wall. The Doctor shook his head in disbelief.

"Rose Tyler, I believe we just fixed the cloaking device. _You_ fixed the cloaking device."

"No way! All I did was sit on it!"

"Well, it's amazing the effect the female body can have," said the Doctor, giving her a cheeky grin. Rose grinned sheepishly as he patted her on the back.

"Yeah, well, does that mean we can make the TARDIS look different? As in not a big blue suspicious-looking police box from the sixties?"

"It certainly does. We can change it as often as we like."

"What outfit will you try today Mr. Ben, eh?"

The Doctor looked confused.

"Human joke. Television. Never mind. So, what would look inconspicuous?"

"I'll scan the vicinity and see what there is," said the Doctor, pressing several buttons.

"There are several of these structures nearby," he commented, as the screen showed them a small structure standing in the middle of the pavement.

"Not much bigger than the current police box, has a door, seems okay to me. What do you think?"

"It's a public loo. We are going to explore the universe in a toilet? Classy," joked Rose.

"But it certainly would be less conspicuous. We'd blend in for once. Might keep us outta trouble. Go on then, give it a shot."

The Doctor pushed a large red button.

"Done!" he said, offering his arm, "Shall we?"

End Chap.

**So, lemme know what you think. All feedback is appreciated. (You know you want to…)**


	2. Chapter 2

This is for all those lovely people at Time and Chips. Thanks to all my reviewers, and remember, the more you review, the more I feel compelled to write. So keep it up!

Chapter 2 

Rose stepped gingerly out of the TARDIS. She spun around and examined the 'public waste convenience' from which she had just alighted.

"Wow!" she exclaimed.

The Doctor stepped out. The curved door slid shut behind him. He stood by Rose's side.

"It's different, I'll grant you that."

"Is it one of those ones that opens after a certain amount of time? I think it is. I remember a girl in my school had an unfortunate incident in one of those once," smirked Rose. She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Wasn't funny really. Middle of the high street. She was 'indisposed' and pop! Poor girl nearly died of embarrassment."

"What's the point of that then? Cheap thrills for the masses?"

"Not quite," laughed Rose, "it's supposed to stop you from getting up to anything sordid." Her eyes sparkled mischievously.

The Doctor coughed uncomfortably, looking at the non-existent watch on his wrist. He grabbed Rose's hand. "Right, let's be off."

They wandered across the square, skirted around the small park in the centre and turned a corner. The narrow street that greeted them was bustling with traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular. They stood there, taking in this vista of 21st century urban life.

"It all seems so unreal, and so small. The places we've been, the things we've seen, the universe is so much more than all this, bigger than they will ever know… and still, they bustle on, enveloped in their own lives, wrapped up in their own petty problems… That used to be me… Normal…" Rose trailed off.

She squeezed the Doctor's hand. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Everything"

The Doctor shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Well, you're welcome. I mean it."

Rose smiled at him affectionately. Her gaze returned to the busy street. Her face lit up.

"Come on!" she said, pulling the Doctor along. "We're going shopping!"

The Doctor groaned.

"Don't be such a sourpuss. It'll be fun. Besides, you're paying!" She headed off in the direction of the nearest clothes shop.

"But I don't have any money!"

Rose stopped in her tracks. "Oh. That makes both of us," she said dejectedly.

"Sorry."

Her face brightened slightly. "Well, we can still look, right? Relax, hang out without having to save the universe or flee from certain death. We can browse, and take our time."

"A relaxing afternoon in the company of one Rose Tyler. Doesn't sound too shabby."

He gave her hand a quick squeeze. "Take as long as you like."

* * *

"Rose, I don't want to be a moan, but it's been four hours. Can we sit down for a while?"

"Four hours? Oh my god, I'm soooo sorry. Has it really been that long? It's just been quite a while since I went shopping."

"No need to apologise. Letting me rest will more than make it up to me."

She noticed a small café across the road, with several tables set outside in the sunshine.

"How about there?" She pointed. The Doctor nodded and the pair made towards the café.

"Hope they don't expect us to buy anythi-" The Doctor turned to Rose, only to discover that she was no longer by his side. He looked behind him in time to see her stoop and pick something up off the ground. Straightening, she jogged up to him.

"Guess who just found €20!" she exclaimed, displaying her find with pride. "Somebody out there must like us!"

She motioned back to the café. "C'mon, I'll treat you to a cappuccino."

The Doctor snorted. "You think I'd drink that muck? Earl grey, all the way."

"Earl grey for two it is then!" she declared.

Her fingers worked their way into his as the continued on.

* * *

"I think it was this way."

"Okay then, you lead." Rose had to increase her pace to keep up with the Doctor's purposeful stride. They arrived on the square of Georgian houses.

"That's funny." The Doctor looked puzzled. "I was certain we left it here."

"Maybe it's on the other side of the square, and we just can't see it," suggested Rose helpfully.

"Hmm. Okay, let's cut across the park."

It was almost dusk, and the sky was tinged a faint pink, as the small wisps of cloud drifted lazily across it. As they strolled through the small wooded park, Rose slipped her arm through the Doctor's. The walked by the small pond, where several ducks drifted about aimlessly, paying no heed to the couple.

They came to a gate in the railings that ran around the parks' perimeter, and were suddenly back on the square, facing the setting sun.

Shielding his eyes with his hand, the Doctor peered up and down the street. "There it is."

It was getting chilly and they both felt tired, and relished the idea of what was, for want of a better word, home.

They hurried along the pavement, past an elderly lady with a small yappy dog. It barked at them.

"Stop it Cornelius or you shan't have any supper!" she snapped. The dog stopped barking, but continued to eye them suspiciously.

When the arrived at the TARDIS, the Doctor pulled open the door.

When he hesitated, Rose gave him a playful push. "Hurry up."

They both stumbled into the darkness, and the door slid shut after them.

**End Chap.**


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter is dedicated to jillybean, my only (and very observant) reviewer on the last chap.

Chapter 3

A small light glowed above their heads, providing only dim light in the crowded cubicle.

"This is so not the TARDIS that it isn't even funny," stated Rose.

"You're telling me. Let's get outta here."

Rose tried the door handle. It didn't budge.

"Typical, it's stuck."

Throwing his eyes to heaven, the Doctor squeezed past Rose. He wrapped both hands around the handle, and with a deep breath, pulled mightily. The only thing that happened was a very faint cracking noise, which Rose suspected was more likely to be the Doctor than the door.

"Fantastic."

"Someone will find us soon, I'm sure. And the TARDIS isn't going anywhere, right? As long as someone doesn't do the opposite to us, and mistake it for a toilet. They can't get in, right?"

"Not without a key."

Rose breathed a sigh of relief. She had become quite attached to the TARDIS, and she couldn't bear to think of it being… soiled.

"So, what do we have here?" she asked, as her gaze roamed around the cubicle.

"Remarkably graffiti-free. Oh, here's some! Let's see." she murmured as she scrutinised the cubicle walls

"'Decko woz 'ere '05' Impressive. Lots of 'so and so is gay.'"

She noticed something on the back wall over the toilet. She walked over and read it, standing close to the Doctor.

"'Don't look here, you're peeing on your shoes.' Sensible enough, if you're a guy, I suppose."

She became painfully aware of how close she was to the Doctor. The walls seemed to be closing in. She imagined that she could hear his heartbeat. Heartbeats. She checked herself and returned to the walls.

"Ooh, here's another one. 'All that you love will be carried away.' There's a sombre thought"

She sighed heavily.

"That's all of it. Now we really have nothing to do," she muttered. She turned from the wall to find the Doctor staring intently at her.

"What?"

"Could be worse. At least the company is good." The Doctor's eyes flicked from her face to the floor, then slowly climbed up to meet her gaze again. "and the view… well the view-"

They both jumped as a sound like a popping champagne cork boomed through the cubicle as the door flew open.

"Let's get out of here," said Rose in a low voice, almost whispering.

She took the Doctor's hand and led him outside. He took a gulp of fresh air, and wiped his brow.

A familiar yapping drew their attention to old lady. She was returning down the road, newspaper and bag of apples in hand. She gave the pair of them a pointedly dirty look before continuing on her way. As she past Rose heard her muttering about 'young people of today' and 'no respect'. The last thing she caught was "I hope her mother is proud of her."

Rose's mind flashed with images of her own mother... She missed her….

Thinking about her mother, she followed the old woman with her eyes until she turned a corner and vanished from sight.

A hand on her shoulder startled her out of her reverie.

"Let's backtrack to the shops," suggested the Doctor. Noticing the single tear rolling down Rose's cheek, he wiped it away gently.

"Are you okay?"

Rose tried to smile. "I'm…" She flung her arms around the Doctor. "I'll be fine," she whispered into his ear, before burying her face in his shoulder. The Doctor stroked her hair slowly.

She stepped away from him, and gave him a weak smile. He offered her his handkerchief. She took it gratefully and blew her nose noisily.

"We'll go back the way we came and see if we can find the TARDIS, okay?"

Handing back the hanky Rose nodded silently.

As they walked back across the square, she watched their shadows. She moved to the left slightly to walk closer to the Doctor's side. She noticed how the sunset had turned everything into a sea of pink through which they now swam. He gave her hand a squeeze, and smiled at her. She squeezed back.

**End Chap.**


End file.
